H is for Hell

Hell Running that is! This past weekend, I joined Kevin and some friends from his squadron for a little somethin’ called a Hell Run. This 3 mile race isn’t your average 5K. We drove about 20 miles outside Seattle (which takes over an hour, annoying), to the little town of Carnation, WA.  It was misty and a tad chilly. Little did I know it was about to get a lot cooler.

We were running late so after getting all checked in, I only had the chance to take one pre-race picture. Here’s my bib number, complete with custom nickname!

Yes it is true. I am a small person who is a badass. When the whistle for our wave of runners blew to begin, we were in the dead last of the line. I only had 2 goals when I signed up for this thing. 1) Do not come in last. 2) Don’t stop and walk. I was not starting out in a position conducive to accomplishing goal #1!

The obstacles started right off the bat, with a wall of dirt, running through corn fields, and the most slippery pits of mud EVER. Being the last group of runners of the day was not a smart choice.  All the mud had been climbed over and soaked with water/rain that trying to climb up an incline between mud pits was nearly impossible. I watched people get to the top of the hill, then do some human bowling while they slid alllllll the way back down.  I quickly learned not to climb behind people, and chose the stickier, less-traveled side of the hill.  That was followed by a 10 foot climbing wall, of course, a slippery one. The worst obstacle of them all was a 100 yard-ish walk up a river. Upstream walking is not the easiest task in the first place, but you add in cold mountain water, cold rain on your head, and my height (which means the water level was way up past my belly button) and that was one cold Kelsey.  I didn’t feel my butt cheeks until another long stretch of running was over. The remaining obstacles included smaller climbing walls, ducking under beds of barbed wire, jumping over fire, more mud pits that steal your shoes, and a final, huge wall, that you had to use a rope to climb up.  

Kevin and I finished the race together and I was so proud that I never stopped to walk, not once!  I was a little upset because my time would have been so much better if I wouldn’t have had to stop and have an archaeological dig for my shoe in the mud pit! Thick mud is worse than quick sand I tell ya.

Although it was a cold, messy, tiring day, I am proud of the accomplishment, and not finishing last. In fact, our time was in the top 1/2 of finishers!  That’s right, not only did I finish last, I beat about 1500 people.  My banged up, bruised, sore body was worth it I would have to say.  I am afraid running on the treadmill or in the park might just be too dull for me now...or maybe not.

 Happy survival faces